Stream across subnets?

[{TIA}-Zero-Cool]

Is there ever going to be a way to manually set the host address from the client so we can cross subnets with this? My home network topology (and many others who use both wired and wireless together) is devided into multiple subnets. im not willing to redesign my entire network topology for a video game, and i know for a fact im not the only one with this setup. seperating your wired and wireless network segments onto different subnets is networking 101.

there needs to be a manual setup option or a way to expand the scope of network discovery to inclube extra subnets. should be a simple tweak... i think they are worried people will use the service to share games across the internet and such but if they check for private ip scope like 10. or 192. that will kill any attempts to route over the internet...

[kreiselhoschi]

Simple tweak #1: use NAT
Simple tweak #2: use hamachi or comparable

[{TIA}-Zero-Cool]

NAT is how the different subnets come into being in the first place. and yeah there are a number of VPN options but that just adds another layer to the overhead and slows things down. the solution really needs to be built directly into the server/client relationship for a number of reasons.

[kreiselhoschi]

Conclusion: don´t use subnets at home. I have both wired and wireless, too, but setting up several subnets wouldn´t come in my mind. Why do you need subnets anyway?

[{TIA}-Zero-Cool]

conclusion: you lack education. so here... let me share a bit. subnetting eliminates broadcast traffic as well as isolating sensetive network resources from the more public network segments.
You may not have web servers (or game servers) on your home network, but i do. My network spans several buildings and several functions. It is in my best interests for a number of reasons to iscolate buildings and sensetive network resources from one another. this gives me the opton to throttle network traffic where necessary and to outright deny access on a packet by packet basis to any or all network resources. you may not require this level of control, but i do. please get even half a clue before you spout your baseless opinions all over the place. k?... thanks.

[{TIA}-Zero-Cool]

can a DEV possibly comment on this? itotally get that you al are busy with HL3 right now, but i just wonder if you realize how many people have this problem...

[Trogdor0]

Originally posted by {TIA}-DrPuff1nK1nd-(-NUGZ-):

can a DEV possibly comment on this? itotally get that you al are busy with HL3 right now, but i just wonder if you realize how many people have this problem...

You are unlikely to get a direct response from the devs. When they do respond, it's usually within a day or so of the original post.

You are very much in the minority. Your network setup is more complicated than 99% of home networks. (I also have a fairly complicated setup, but mostly just for guest Wi-fi and a DMZ server) Most home networks have a single broadcast domain and aren't going to have a problem with the way Steam discovers other devices running the client. Personally, I don't see this being implemented in the near future. (Yes, I know it would be relatively easy to add it, but I doubt it all the same) I'm not ruling it out; I just think it's a feature that probably wouldn't be used by the majority of Steam users (even those users that own multiple computers and can actually use IHS). Also, cross-subnet streaming is explicitly not supported https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3629-RIAV-1617 so good luck trying to convince Valve to support a network config that they said they don't support.

I don't know the particulars of your network, so this is a long shot:
The only solution for your particular situation that immediately comes to mind (short of completely reconfiguing/rewiring your network) is to use a "one-armed router" to bridge your subnets, but only for certain packets. It would listen on one IP subnet for broadcast packets that Steam uses for device discovery and then rebroadcast them on the other. I know you said you want to limit broadcasts over the network, so you could set it up so that it would only forward packets that use port 27036. Raspberry Pis (or plain ol' routers) loaded with OpenWRT/DD-WRT work great for this purpose. I'm not familiar with the particulars of the discovery protocol. This would definitely work for bridging VLANs, but it may or may not work for bridging subnets (depending on the particulars of the protocol as well as the physical layout of your network). I really should fire up Wireshark and familiarize myself better with how it all works; I just haven't had the time.

[{TIA}-Zero-Cool]

Originally posted by Trogdor0:

Originally posted by {TIA}-DrPuff1nK1nd-(-NUGZ-):

can a DEV possibly comment on this? itotally get that you al are busy with HL3 right now, but i just wonder if you realize how many people have this problem...

You are unlikely to get a direct response from the devs. When they do respond, it's usually within a day or so of the original post.

You are very much in the minority. Your network setup is more complicated than 99% of home networks. (I also have a fairly complicated setup, but mostly just for guest Wi-fi and a DMZ server) Most home networks have a single broadcast domain and aren't going to have a problem with the way Steam discovers other devices running the client. Personally, I don't see this being implemented in the near future. (Yes, I know it would be relatively easy to add it, but I doubt it all the same) I'm not ruling it out; I just think it's a feature that probably wouldn't be used by the majority of Steam users (even those users that own multiple computers and can actually use IHS). Also, cross-subnet streaming is explicitly not supported https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3629-RIAV-1617 so good luck trying to convince Valve to support a network config that they said they don't support.

I don't know the particulars of your network, so this is a long shot:
The only solution for your particular situation that immediately comes to mind (short of completely reconfiguing/rewiring your network) is to use a "one-armed router" to bridge your subnets, but only for certain packets. It would listen on one IP subnet for broadcast packets that Steam uses for device discovery and then rebroadcast them on the other. I know you said you want to limit broadcasts over the network, so you could set it up so that it would only forward packets that use port 27036. Raspberry Pis (or plain ol' routers) loaded with OpenWRT/DD-WRT work great for this purpose. I'm not familiar with the particulars of the discovery protocol. This would definitely work for bridging VLANs, but it may or may not work for bridging subnets (depending on the particulars of the protocol as well as the physical layout of your network). I really should fire up Wireshark and familiarize myself better with how it all works; I just haven't had the time.

yeah i thought about forwarding the broadcast packets in question and thats likely what i will do. or ill just install the games over there again... its not a big deal really. i just wanted to test out system some and was surprised there was not an "advanced" tab or whatever where a person could allow for cross subnetting...
anyhow, thank you for a much more insightful and well thought out answer than i have gotten so far! i was not aware that Valve had specifically disallowed this action... your prolly right then... not too likely it will get done. too bad. it is coming up a ♥♥♥♥ load in shared housing units like dorms and college fraternities/sororities and the like.
cheers :)

[kreiselhoschi]

Thanks for sharing your wisdom with me, {TIA}-DrPuff1nK1nd-(-NUGZ-). Honestly: this is "In-Home" Streaming... it´s not even considered to be used covering subnets, different IP ranges, etc. - not to be spoken about the lack of support for this kind of use.

I understand you have a different approach than probably most other people using this free service. Anyway, asking for support for your special setup and then being pissed if someone questions the background is a little bit ... uhm... you know. ;)

Frankly spoken, your first post was a little bit like "yeah, I can do it, that´s why I´m doing it". No offense, that´s just what I read between the lines. Maybe because my mother language is not English. ;)

Nevertheless, I´m still convinced that using NAT would be the most convenient way for you. You´re obviously a Pro, so this should be no problem for you. Good luck!

[{TIA}-Zero-Cool]

Originally posted by kreiselhoschi:

Thanks for sharing your wisdom with me, {TIA}-DrPuff1nK1nd-(-NUGZ-). Honestly: this is "In-Home" Streaming... it´s not even considered to be used covering subnets, different IP ranges, etc. - not to be spoken about the lack of support for this kind of use.

I understand you have a different approach than probably most other people using this free service. Anyway, asking for support for your special setup and then being pissed if someone questions the background is a little bit ... uhm... you know. ;)

Frankly spoken, your first post was a little bit like "yeah, I can do it, that´s why I´m doing it". No offense, that´s just what I read between the lines. Maybe because my mother language is not English. ;)

Nevertheless, I´m still convinced that using NAT would be the most convenient way for you. You´re obviously a Pro, so this should be no problem for you. Good luck!

just because you dont understand me need to organize my network as i do, does not make it wrong. if i were to rely on NAT i would be forced to flatten my topology such that sensetive internal resources would be vunerable to exploit. that is a risk i simply cannot afford. While i suppose you find your assesment of my reasoning amusing, your quite off base. I can and do, because i need to. im sory if its over your head, but subnetting exists for a reason. However i totally get it if valve is happy to please the general pleb and leave people like me to work around the hiccups... it would just be nice if we didnt have to is all.

[kreiselhoschi]

Yeah, pal. I was trying to be polite and trying to get a glimpse on why you have such a special setup. So, you´re calling me dumb... I´m fine with that. Please excuse me, if I call you trolling because you pretend to be such a Pro with your high-level setup, risks, demands and so on. A clever guy would NEVER try to mix his personal entertainment with "mission critical" environment like you state you have to take care of. Have fun. Oh, by the way: suck my balls. ;)

[panter4]

the system is designed to be as simple as possible for everyone

however {TIA}-DrPuff1nK1nd-(-NUGZ-) has, from his high horse, just asked to have a box to enter the exact IP of the host instead of autodiscovery so its not actually an unreasonable request

[{TIA}-Zero-Cool]

Originally posted by kreiselhoschi:

Yeah, pal. I was trying to be polite and trying to get a glimpse on why you have such a special setup. So, you´re calling me dumb... I´m fine with that. Please excuse me, if I call you trolling because you pretend to be such a Pro with your high-level setup, risks, demands and so on. A clever guy would NEVER try to mix his personal entertainment with "mission critical" environment like you state you have to take care of. Have fun. Oh, by the way: suck my balls. ;)

never called you anything. just tried to explain why NAT isnt the end all be all of solutions is all...

but thanks for your further input, i guess.

" from his high horse,"

didnt realize my horse wa so high... that phuker should share!

[RoomBroom]

I'm actually in the same boat as {TIA}-DrPuff1nK1nd-(-NUGZ-) and would also like to be able to specify an IP address rather than relying on broadcasts. I can't see it being that difficult to implement.

[Albert]

I agree with {TIA}-DrPuff1nK1nd-(-NUGZ-) entirely here. Having my media network separate from general browsing is a must these days in terms of good network security. Steam Stream only needs the facility to manually state the IP of the Streaming PC and vice versa so that the devices know to route to their gateway IPs in order to find the computer rather than scan the local subnet. It's basic routing and should be part of any network based solution.

[libgradev]

FWIW: working fine across subnets here - using a CISCO switch.

You just need to set the 'UDP Relay/IP Helper' option up (under IP Configuration) to forward port 27036.

Gra